TedStixon

4th Jun 2020

Akira (1988)

Trivia: A live-action American remake has been in the works since the 1990's. It has repeatedly been postponed due to budgetary concerns.

TedStixon

4th Jun 2020

Akira (1988)

Trivia: At the time, the film had a record budget for an animated film in Japan, coming in at around $10 million US dollars. (Though its budget has since been surpassed by a number of other films).

TedStixon

4th Jun 2020

Akira (1988)

Trivia: "Akira" is something of a rarity for 80's Japanese anime films because the voices were recorded ahead of time and the animation was made to match the voices. At the time, the animation usually came first and the voice actors would try to match it.

TedStixon

4th Jun 2020

Akira (1988)

Trivia: The film was comprised of 160,000 still images. At the time, it used a record 327 different colors - many of which were created specifically for the film. Part of the reason it used so many colors was because a lot of the film takes place at night, which requires a completely different set of paints.

TedStixon

4th Jun 2020

Akira (1988)

Trivia: Kanye West has called "Akira" one of his favorite films, and even included references to it in the music video for his song "Stronger."

TedStixon

4th Jun 2020

Akira (1988)

Trivia: The sequence involving black circles at the very end of the film (right before the line "I am Tetsuo!") was actually just a quick animation and color-gradient test the animation team did that was never intended to be part of the movie. The director decided to include it in the final cut.

TedStixon

Trivia: The actress who plays Mileena was actually the stunt double for Kitana in the first film. This is pretty ironic, as the character Mileena is a clone of Kitana in the video-game lore.

TedStixon

Trivia: Originaly, Sheeva was meant to have a larger presence in the film, and was even going to have a two-on-one fight scene with Liu Kang and Raiden. Unfortunately, last minute budget cuts meant that most of her scenes had to be scrapped. This explains her limited screentime and rather abrupt, unceremonious death.

TedStixon

1st Jun 2020

Mortal Kombat (1995)

Trivia: Actor and stunt performer Steve James was reportedly cast (or at very least was the favorite pick) for the part of Jax, which was originally meant to be a larger role. Tragically, he passed away from cancer nine months before filming started. The part ended up going to Gregory McKinney.

TedStixon

1st Jun 2020

Mortal Kombat (1995)

Trivia: The producers desperately wanted the techno and electronic dance music featured in the film, but reportedly many record companies fought against it and turned down the project. One record company even suggested that instead of techno and EDM, Janet Jackson should provide most of the music, and that it should all be pop based. The producers persisted, and it eventually worked out - they got the music they wanted and the soundtrack album ended up going platinum.

TedStixon

1st Jun 2020

Mortal Kombat (1995)

Trivia: Reportedly, Tom Cruise happened to be near the set one day, and wandered over to see what they were shooting. A medic who worked for the crew reportedly got in Cruise's face and refused to let him pass. The cast and crew were both mortified but also highly amused when they found out what happened later on.

TedStixon

Trivia: After defeating Baraka, Johnny Cage quips the word "Toasty!" This is a reference to an Easter-Egg from the video-game series, in which sound designer Dan Forden would appear in the corner of the screen and say "Toasty!" in a high-pitched voice. (The word came from Forden playfully taunting his friends at video-games. He used to say things like "You're toast!" or "I predict toast!" when he was doing well. It eventually morphed into the catchphrase "Toasty!").

TedStixon

Trivia: The vampiric woman who snarls at Johnny is a cameo appearance by Nitara, a character from several of the games.

TedStixon

Trivia: In one scene, two people are trying to break anvils with their hands. This is a reference to the "Test Your Might" mini-games from the original video-game.

TedStixon

Trivia: Despite the video-game series being quite bloody and gory, this is actually the first "Mortal Kombat" movie to receive an R-rating.

TedStixon

31st May 2020

Return of the Fly (1959)

Trivia: Vincent Price reportedly signed on because he was impressed with the script. However, shortly after signing on, the script was hastily re-written, and the final draft bore little resemblance to the one Price had read when he signed on.

TedStixon

31st May 2020

Return of the Fly (1959)

Trivia: Whereas the first "The Fly" was in color, this sequel was actually filmed in black-and-white. This was reportedly a cost-saving measure, similar to how the film re-used many of the same sets from the first movie.

TedStixon

31st May 2020

Return of the Fly (1959)

Trivia: The script was specifically written to be set almost entirely in the same locations from the original "The Fly," as the studio wanted to get more use out of the sets before they were scrapped.

TedStixon

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